United States private equity firm Francisco Partners has injected $107.5 million into Melbourne-based software-as-a-service company Aconex.

Aconex CEO Leigh Jasper(Credit: Aconex)

Aconex was founded back in 2000. The company's primary product
is a solution for online document management in construction
projects, which is provided using the software-as-a-service business model.
The company counts most of the major construction and engineering
companies in Australia (such as Brookfield Multiplex and Grocon)
amongst its customer roster.

In a statement issued this morning, Aconex, which employs more
than 350 people across 37 offices around the globe, said it would
allocate the funding to product development as well as
acquisitions, in addition to hiring around 50 new staff within its
Melbourne-based development team.

"There has been considerable interest in Aconex from potential
investors in the US and elsewhere," said the company's chairman
Martin Hosking. The investment represents the second major move by
Francisco Partners in Australia in as many years, after the US firm
bought Brisbane-based mining resources software firm Mincom in May
2007 for $315 million.

Hosking appeared to hint that Aconex could become a publicly
listed company at some point, saying Francisco had "extensive
experience in assisting technology companies to structure and
prepare for initial public offerings".

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